Australia[edit]
Renewables advocates assert that the cost for wind and solar has dramatically reduced since 2006, for example, the climate council claims over the 5 years between 2009-2014 solar costs fell by 75% making them comparable to coal, and are expected to continue dropping over the next 5 years by another 45% from 2014 prices, however supporting data is unclear.
[36] Another claim is that wind has been cheaper than coal since 2013, and that coal and gas will become less viable as subsidies are withdrawn and there is the expectation that they will eventually have to pay the costs of pollution.
[36]The first table in this section gives a selection of LCOE from two major government reports from Australia.
[34][35]
These figures do not include any cost for the
greenhouse gasemissions (such as under
carbon tax or
emissions trading scenarios) associated with the different technologies.
Most energy industry reports will counter that solar and wind cannot replace base load electricity sources due to the intermittent nature of production and that the necessity to maintain unused base load power generation increases the cost of any substantial shift to renewables.
[37]
The second table gives a selection of LCOE with and without a carbon price for coal (brown and black, with and without CCS) and wind from the Australian Technology Assessment (2012), Table 5.2.1.
[38]
The chart below, from the Australian Energy Technology Assessment 2013 Model Update (Figure 8) also shows more current levelised costs of energy.
[39] The second table and chart (in a modified form) were included in an article on The Conversation in 2015.
[40]
Most energy industry reports will counter that solar and wind cannot replace base load electricity sources due to the intermittent nature of production and that the necessity to maintain unused base load power generation increases the cost of any substantial shift to renewables.
[37]
The second table gives a selection of LCOE with and without a carbon price for coal (brown and black, with and without CCS) and wind from the
Australian Technology Assessment (2012), Table 5.2.1.
[38]
The chart below, from the Australian Energy Technology Assessment 2013 Model Update (Figure 8) also shows more current levelised costs of energy.
[39] The second table and chart (in a modified form) were included in an article on The Conversation in 2015.
[40]
